Russia to use Asia-Pacific as model for Far East development

July 02, 2014, 15:49 UTC+3GORKY (Moscow Region)“The Asia-Pacific have raised their investment climate to a very high level and we also need at least to come close to these indicators,” the Russian PM says

Share

1 pages in this article

Dmitry Medvedev (center)

GORKY, July 2./ITAR-TASS/. The Russian government intends to use the Asia-Pacific economic indicators as a model for developing Russia’s Far Eastern territories, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday.

“The changes we are carrying through in the Far East require different dynamics of the region’s economic development,” Medvedev told a government meeting on the development of the Russian Far East.

“The Far East needs strategic investors, a normal business environment, including normal administration procedures and a proper tax regime and tax burden on business,” Medvedev said.

“The Asia-Pacific have raised their investment climate to a very high level and we also need at least to come close to these indicators,” the Russian premier said.

The Russian government has recently mapped out measures to establish mostly non-raw material industries in the Far East designed for exports and import substitution. These measures are intended to resolve infrastructural problems related to the region’s remoteness from the federal center and launch investment projects.

Advanced development territories are intended to boost the region’s economy. Bills on such territories are already at the stage of their finalization. Sites for development projects will be selected with account taken of particular investors and potential consumers.

The federal legislation stipulates that advanced social and economic development territories will be established using funds of the state budget and the budgets of the Far Eastern regions, local budgets and other financing sources.

Financing will be based on the best regulatory practices like tax holidays and reduced social security payment rates for resident businesses, an easy customs regime, a special procedure for land use and connection to infrastructure facilities.

Advanced development territories are an improved type of free economic zones, envisaging the allocation of land sites as big as several dozen thousand hectares for resident operators.

The Russian government has already defined 14 sites for advanced development territories out of more than 400 proposals.